Irathient Noun Classes (Excerpt) David J. Peterson 1

Transcription

1 Irathient Noun Classes (Excerpt) David J. Peterson 1 Noun Class: Irathient possesses sixteen noun classes, summarized below. Each noun class is associated with a characteristic prefix and optional suffixal vowel. Class I: Tivung Nǝzratha (The Irathient Class) Class I is reserved for Irathients. This might be hard to conceptualize, but imagine the equivalent class in a human language would be just for humans. So words for "woman", "man", "boy", "daughter", "uncle", etc. will all be in Class I but they'll refer, instead, to "female Irathient", "male Irathient", "Irathient boy", "Irathient daughter", "Irathient uncle", etc. While they will mean that, the words will be as common as their English equivalents are in English that is, they're basic terms. Class I will also be used where in English we would usually use the "-er" suffix. So with a verb like shingma, "to travel", zingma would be "traveler". Class I will be the default class for all such terms. Nominal Class Prefix: z-/zu- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -e/-u Copy Consonant: z Agreement Prefix: zu-/zw- Agentive Prefix: z- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): ez-/uz- Intransitive Prefix: z- Pronoun (SG/PLU): iza/uze 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -za/-zi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -ze/-zu 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): paza/pazi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): paze/pazu zrathe/zrathu "Irathient" zmaine/zmainu "Irathient woman" zushone/zushonu "Irathient man" skir/skirǝ "Irathient boy" zwinya/zwinyazǝ "Irathient daughter" Class II: Tivung Nǝharatha (The Alien Class) Class II is reserved for non-irathient sentient beings. This includes every alien species the Irathient have encountered: Castithans, Liberata,

2 Irathient Noun Classes (Excerpt) David J. Peterson 2 Indogene, Sensoth, humans, etc. This is the class that will probably be heard the most on the show when we need an "-er" word ("teacher", "soldier", etc.), since most of the characters will be non-irathient (see Class I for further explanation about this usage). Apart from non-irathient sentient beings, this class is also used contrastively with Class I in a pejorative fashion or to indicate that the referent is dangerous. (If you look at the other classes, Class II was formerly the "Dangerous Irathient" class. Since first contact, it's switched over, but old remnants remain.) Nominal Class Prefix: h-/ha- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -i/-a Copy Consonant: h Agreement Prefix: h-/ha- Agentive Prefix: h- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): ah-/ih- Intransitive Prefix: h- Pronoun (SG/PLU): iha/uhe 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -ha/-hi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -he/-hu 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): paha/pahi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): pahe/pahu harathi/haratha "alien" hamaini/hamaina "alien woman" hashoni/hashona "alien man" hakir/hakirǝ "alien boy" hwinya/hwinyahǝ "alien daughter" Class III: Tivung Nǝtignoma (The Harmless Beast Class) Class III is reserved primarily for beasts which don't pose any real threat to Irathients. These would be the Irathient equivalent of cows, sheep, flies, etc. Now, because we don't ever actually see the Irathient home world Irath, there will be a number of words in this class which have no other definition aside from "Irathient animal". There's little better that can be done until we see more of Irath. Earth animals that fit the general description will gradually work their way into this class as borrowings.

3 Irathient Noun Classes (Excerpt) David J. Peterson 3 Nominal Class Prefix: t-/ti- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -a/-i Copy Consonant: t Agreement Prefix: t-/ti- Agentive Prefix: t- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): at-/it- Intransitive Prefix: t- Pronoun (SG/PLU): ita/ute 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -ta/-ti 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -te/-tu 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): lita/liti 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): lite/litu tignoma/tignomi "harmless beast" tihuthra/tihuthri "Irathient animal" twimbla/twimbli "Irathient animal" tlanǝs/tlanǝsǝ "Irathient animal" tirwa/tirwatǝ "Irathient animal" Class IV: Tivung Nǝkagnoma (The Dangerous Beast Class) Class IV is reserved primarily for beasts which are carnivores or are otherwise dangerous to Irathients. The same problem exists for this class as exists for Class III (for more discussion, see Class III above). As a result, most definitions will not be fixed. Earth animals that fit the general description will gradually work their way into this class as borrowings. Nominal Class Prefix: k-/ka- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -i/-a Copy Consonant: k Agreement Prefix: k-/ka- Agentive Prefix: k- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): ak-/ik- Intransitive Prefix: k- Pronoun (SG/PLU): ika/uke 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -ka/-ki 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -ke/-ku 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): lika/liki 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): like/liku

4 Irathient Noun Classes (Excerpt) David J. Peterson 4 kagnomi/kagnoma "dangerous beast" kadumbri/kadumbra "Irathient animal" kajonggi/kajongga "Irathient animal" klim/klimǝ "Irathient animal" kabule/kabulekǝ "Irathient animal" Class V: Tivung Nǝdomra (The Harmless Plant Class) Class V is reserved primarily for plants which are not dangerous, but also contains a number of food items and dishes native to Irathients. The same problem exists for this class as exists for Class III (for more discussion, see Class III above). As a result, most definitions will not be fixed. Earth plants that fit the general description will gradually work their way into this class as borrowings. Nominal Class Prefix: d-/di- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -a/-i Copy Consonant: d Agreement Prefix: d-/di- Agentive Prefix: d- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): ad-/id- Intransitive Prefix: d- Pronoun (SG/PLU): da/de 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -da/-di 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -de/-du 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): lida/lidi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): lide/lidu domra/domri "harmless ground-cover plant" dikpora/dikpori "Irathient plant" digromba/digrombi "Irathient plant" drurein/drurenǝ "Irathient plant" dihagle/dihagledǝ "Irathient plant" Class VI: Tivung Nǝgomra (The Harmless Plant Class) Class VI is reserved primarily for plants which are dangerous (be they poisonous or somehow alive), but also contains some food items and dishes native to Irathients (all spicy). The same problem exists for this class as exists for Class III (for more discussion, see Class III above). As a

5 Irathient Noun Classes (Excerpt) David J. Peterson 5 result, most definitions will not be fixed. Earth plants that fit the general description will gradually work their way into this class as borrowings. Nominal Class Prefix: g-/ge- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -u/-e Copy Consonant: g Agreement Prefix: g-/ge- Agentive Prefix: g- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): eg-/ug- Intransitive Prefix: g- Pronoun (SG/PLU): iga/uge 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -ga/-gi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -ge/-gu 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): liga/ligi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): lige/ligu gomru/gomre "a poisonous ground-cover plant" gegubadu/gegubade "Irathient plant" gemergu/gemerge "Irathient plant" gwangin/gwanginǝ "Irathient plant" grazbi/grazbigǝ "Irathient plant" Class VII: Tivung Nondura (The Rock Class) Class VII is reserved primarily for objects created by Irathients (or other sentient beings) that aren't inherently dangerous. In addition, a lot of natural objects that don't fall into other classes fall into Class VII (things like rocks, leaves, rivers, etc.). For that reason, Class VII is a rather large class. Nominal Class Prefix: ut-/u- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -e/-u Copy Consonant: w Adjectival Modifier: ut-/u- > ot-/o- Agreement Prefix: tw-/tu- Agentive Prefix: tw- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): et-/ut- Intransitive Prefix: t- Pronoun (SG/PLU): itwa/utwe 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -twa/-twi

6 Irathient Noun Classes (Excerpt) David J. Peterson 6 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -twe/-dvu 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): litwa/litwi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): litwe/lidvu utagwe/utagvu "belt" ukerpe/ukerpu "spoon" ujure/ujuru "necklace" undur/undurǝ "rock" uhegma/uhegmawǝ "rope" Class VIII: Tivung Naigana (The Fist Class) Class VIII is reserved primarily for objects created by Irathients (or other sentient beings) that are inherently dangerous (in other words, the weapon class). For things that are inherently dangerous but less dangerous than others, you may find a distinction (for example, if there was a root for "eating knife", you might find "steak knife" in this class [Class VIII], and "butter knife" in Class VII). In addition, there will often be a contrasts between this class and Class VII for natural objects. So, for example, if something like "tide" were in Class VII, "undertow" would be in Class VIII. In addition, other natural phenomena that could be dangerous will be in this class (cliffs, storms, etc.). Nominal Class Prefix: ek-/e- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -u/-e Copy Consonant: k Adjectival Modifier: ek-/e- > aik-/ai- Agreement Prefix: k-/ke- Agentive Prefix: k- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): ek-/uk- Intransitive Prefix: k- Pronoun (SG/PLU): eka/eke 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -ka/-ki 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -ke/-ku 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): lika/liki 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): like/liku eganu/egane "fist" ekaru/ekare "knife" eziru/ezire "spear" ejonggur/ejonggurǝ "gun"

7 Irathient Noun Classes (Excerpt) David J. Peterson 7 edonla/edonlakǝ "cliff" Class IX: Tivung Nǝrisa (The Water Class) Class IX is reserved primarily for substances which are harmless to Irathients. I use the word "substance" because the class is pretty broad, covering things like liquids, gasses, some types of food, some plants, certain plant byproducts, certain mineral byproducts, etc. By its very nature, most substances are what is known in the linguistics literature as mass nouns. A mass noun, in English, is something that usually cannot be preceded by "a" or "an" (think of water, rice, grass, fire, etc.). As a result, the plurals of Class IX words will be uncommon. When used, the plural will indicate either type (so risi would be "types of waters". If one had a bowl of dirty water, a bowl of clean water, and a bowl of colored water, one might refer to them all as risi, that is, types of water), or will be used idiomatically to refer to some sort of countable variant of that noun (consider English "a water" in, "Could you bring me a water?" What it means here is "a glass of water", but we conventionally refer to it as "a water"). Nominal Class Prefix: r-/ri- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -a/-i Copy Consonant: r Agreement Prefix: r-/ri- Agentive Prefix: r- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): ar-/ir- Intransitive Prefix: r- Pronoun (SG/PLU): ra/re 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -ra/-ri 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -re/-ru 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): lira/liri 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): lire/liru risa/risi "water" rivusha/rivushi "air" rignoja/rignoji "sludge" rogur/rogurǝ "soil (native to Irath)" rilimu/rilimurǝ "plasma"

8 Irathient Noun Classes (Excerpt) David J. Peterson 8 Class X: Tivung Nǝsazra (The Fire Class) Class X is reserved primarily for substances which are harmful to Irathients. The same types of nouns found in Class IX will be found in Class X (for a thorough discussion of the ramifications of this grouping of nouns, see Class IX above), but they will be inherently dangerous. Nominal Class Prefix: s-/sa- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -i/-a Copy Consonant: s Agreement Prefix: s-/sa- Agentive Prefix: s- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): as-/is- Intransitive Prefix: s- Pronoun (SG/PLU): isa/use 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -sa/-si 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -se/-su 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): lisa/lisi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): lise/lisu sazri/sazra "fire" saktiri/saktira "poison (general term)" sahoshi/sahosha "lightning" spom/spamǝ "rotten or tainted meat" sangmiku/sangmikusǝ "blood" Class XI: Tivung Nǝnujitha (The Tower Class) Class XI is reserved primarily for places or geographical areas. However it's also used for objects that are used passively (like a chair or table), and also most vehicles (others belonging to either Class VII or Class VIII). Generally, if it's an object that's large enough for a Irathient to occupy, it'll likely be in Class XI. Nominal Class Prefix: nun-/nu- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -e/-u Copy Consonant: n Agreement Prefix: n-/nu- Agentive Prefix: n- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): {e/ei}n-/un-

9 Irathient Noun Classes (Excerpt) David J. Peterson 9 Intransitive Prefix: n- Pronoun (SG/PLU): ina/une 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -na/-ni 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -ne/-nu 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): lina/lini 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): line/linu nujekpe/nujekpu "mountain" nunergze/nunergzu "cave" nurathe/nurathu "a separate Irathient-only settlement" nujith/nujithǝ "tower" nukaivu/nukaivunǝ "city" Class XII: Tivung Nǝsheliga (The Sleeping Class) Class XII is reserved for abstractions. This is a broad class, and nouns are often defined in opposition to nouns in other classes, or to the verbs associated with the root. The definition of a particular Class XII noun will often be clear if one knows the other class members of a given root. Nominal Class Prefix: th-/the- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -u/-e Copy Consonant: th Agreement Prefix: th-/the- Agentive Prefix: th- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): eth-/uth- Intransitive Prefix: th- Pronoun (SG/PLU): itha/uthe 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -tha/-thi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -the/-thu 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): patha/pathi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): pathe/pathu thrathu/thrathe "Irathient-hood (like humanity)" theligu/thelige "sleep" theganu/thegane "five" thejonggur/thejonggurǝ "weaponry, artillery" thingma/thingmathǝ "travel, traveling" Class XIII: Tivung Naigana (The Handful Class)

10 Irathient Noun Classes (Excerpt) David J. Peterson 10 Class IV is reserved primarily for groups of things or people, but is also used for objects which come in bunches, and other inherently plural or grouped objects. Nominal Class Prefix: in-/i- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -a/-i Copy Consonant: ny Adjectival Modifier: ai- Agreement Prefix: ny-/ni- Agentive Prefix: n- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): {a/o}n-/in- Intransitive Prefix: n- Pronoun (SG/PLU): inya/unye 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -nya/-nyi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -nye/-nyu 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): linya/linyi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): linye/linyu iratha/irathi "a group of Irathients" igana/igani "handful" iglumba/iglumbi "scrotum" inogur/inogurǝ "soil sample" inegma/inegmanyǝ "star cluster, constellation" Class XIV: Tivung Nǝshemingga (The Waking Class) Class XIV is reserved exclusively for verbal infinitives. The verbal infinitive will be translated in various ways, depending on the verb and how the word is used in a sentence. As a noun, it will often be translated as a gerund (e.g. "jumping", "relaxing", "running", etc.). Otherwise a Class XIV word will be seen primarily in verbal position. Nominal Class Prefix: sh-/she- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -u/-e Copy Consonant: sh Agreement Prefix: sh-/she- Agentive Prefix: sh- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): esh-/ush- Intransitive Prefix: sh- Pronoun (SG/PLU): isha/ushe

11 Irathient Noun Classes (Excerpt) David J. Peterson 11 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -sha/-shi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -she/-shu 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): pasha/pashi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): pashe/pashu sheminggu/shemingge "to wake up, to awaken" sheligu/shelige "to sleep" shedroru/shedrore "to breathe" sherazu/sheraze "to drink" shingma/shingmashǝ "to travel" Class XV: Tivung Nǝtiwala (The Infant Class) Class XV is reserved primarily for diminutive or slang versions of sentient beings. This would be a class used for pet names, child versions of otherwise adult things, and miscellaneous derivations. Certain non- Irathient sentient beings will also find their way into this class. Class XV is a mixed agreement class. The nominal marking looks like the marking for a Class III noun, but the agreement pattern is Class II. The only difference between Classes XV and XVI (aside from its membership) is differing agreement patterns (Class XV takes Class II agreement and Class XVI takes Class XI agreement). Nominal Class Prefix: t-/ti- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -a/-i Copy Consonant: h Agreement Prefix: h-/ha- Agentive Prefix: h- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): ah-/ih- Intransitive Prefix: h- Pronoun (SG/PLU): iha/uhe 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -ha/-hi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -he/-hu 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): paha/pahi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): pahe/pahu tishuma/tishumi "human being" timaina/timaini "babe (Irathi)" tishona/tishoni "dude, man (Irathi)"

12 Irathient Noun Classes (Excerpt) David J. Peterson 12 tiwo/tiwalǝ "infant, baby, cub (any species)" twinya/twinyahǝ "pet name for one's Irathient daughter" Class XVI: Tivung Nǝtijekpa (The Hill Class) Class XVI is reserved primarily for diminutive or slang versions of nonsentient beings and other objects. This class will enjoy far more use and be far more common than Class XV. (Note: For further information about the mixed nature of this class, see Class XV above.) Nominal Class Prefix: t-/ti- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -e/-u Copy Consonant: n Agreement Prefix: n-/nu- Agentive Prefix: n- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): {e/ei}n-/un- Intransitive Prefix: n- Pronoun (SG/PLU): ina/une 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -na/-ni 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -ne/-nu 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): lina/lini 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): line/linu tijekpe/tijekpu "hill" tihoshe/tihoshu "spark" telige/teligu "nap" tindur/tindurǝ "pebble" tingma/tingmanǝ "a short trip, a day trip" Class XVII: Tivung Nǝtiwala (The Infant Class) Class XVII is a broad class used for augmentatives, and also for various borrowings that simply don't fit anywhere else. Class XVII is reserved exclusively for sentient beings, so it's not nearly as large as Class XVIII, but it is quite large. Regarding its nominal class prefix, the ja- and jan- prefixes are only added to monosyllabic roots; other words take no prefix at all. Class XVII is a mixed agreement class. The nominal marking of Class XVII nouns is unique, but the agreement pattern is Class II. The only difference

13 Irathient Noun Classes (Excerpt) David J. Peterson 13 between Classes XVIII and XVII (aside from its membership) is differing agreement patterns (Class XVII takes Class II agreement and Class XVIII takes Class XI agreement). Nominal Class Prefix: jan-/ja-/ø- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -a/-i Copy Consonant: h /ǝn- Agreement Prefix: h-/ha- Agentive Prefix: h- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): ah-/ih- Intransitive Prefix: h- Pronoun (SG/PLU): iha/uhe 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -ha/-hi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -he/-hu 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): paha/pahi 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): pahe/pahu jarisha/jarishi "leader or chief of an Irathient village" jamaine/jamainu "Irathient elder (female)" jashone/jashonu "Irathient elder (male)" jano/janawǝ "hero (or otherwise exceptional individual)" lomekǝ/lomekǝhǝ "lawmaker" Class XVIII: Tivung Nǝjasa (The Flood Class) Class XVIII is a broad class used for augmentatives, and also for various borrowings that simply don't fit anywhere else. Class XVII is reserved exclusively for non-sentient beings and pretty much anything else. If there's nowhere else to put a noun, it will go into this class. Consequently, Class XVIII is an extremely large class. (Note: For further information about the mixed nature of this class, see Class XVII above.) Regarding its nominal class prefix, the ja- and jan- prefixes are only added to monosyllabic roots; other words take no prefix at all. Nominal Class Prefix: jan-/ja-/ø- Nominal Class Suffix (SG/PLU): -e/-u Copy Consonant: n /ǝn- Agreement Prefix: n-/nu-

14 Irathient Noun Classes (Excerpt) David J. Peterson 14 Agentive Prefix: n- Patientive Prefix (DIR/CAUS): {e/ei}n-/un- Intransitive Prefix: n- Pronoun (SG/PLU): ina/une 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -na/-ni 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Suffix (SG/PLU): -ne/-nu 3 rd Person Singular Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): lina/lini 3 rd Person Plural Possessive Adjective (SG/PLU): line/linu jase/jasu "flood" jahoshe/jahoshu "lightning storm" jakaiwe/jakaivu "metropolis" urth/urthǝ "Earth" raifo/raifonǝ "rifle (Earth weapon)"